4:8
“No!”
“Do it!”
Sigh. “You got a plan?”
“We have an idea!”
Eye roll. “That’s not a plan.”
“It’s all we’ve got!”
“Your funeral!” Ben yelled, then muttered, “and mine,” then dashed away from the door, hard as he could, heading for the far side of the dance floor where the rest of the crew were bracing.
Slowing slightly he grabbed Gwen by the arm, yanking her back behind a pillar as the door slammed against the wall and Jake entered once again, voicing his confusion.
And away they went. The music played, all warbled and weird, getting faster and faster. And the couples spun. And the wind whipped. And Ben cussed, crouched behind the pillar with Gwen trapped between him and it, his arms around it and her and fingers clenched to hold their position.
Dan held a similar position with Patti protected between the pillar and himself, buying her the quiet mind to focus her Magick and track the origination point of the music. Her voice was serene and her eyes unfocused, seeking inside and out. The mouse in her cleavage turned to rest it’s head against her chest, it’s eyes closed as if was in communion with her. For all Dan knew maybe it was. Odd little Magickal thing.
“Got it.” Her voice barely registered under the roar of the wind doing it’s damnedest to drive them across the room and into the wall.
Slam. The music stopped, the couples halted, and the wind died.
Ben let loose his death grip on the pillar, jumped up, and charged across the room to position himself against the door. Gwen followed and threw her weight against it too. “Two bodies, better than one.”
“I’ve always found that the case.” Exhausted as he was Ben still pulled up the energy to charm.
Gwen rolled her eyes, then belied her sass by resting her head on Ben’s shoulder.
Patti shoved against Dan, pushing him away so she could stand. She scanned the room with her gaze, finding Kim and Siobhan with their hands clasped together around a pillar and their heads still turned to the side so their cheeks pressed to the marble and protected their faces.
“Hey!”
Siobhan looked up slowly. “Find it?”
A nod. “Found it. That way.” She pointed at the grandfather clock.
“And we didn’t think to look there because?” Kim muttered.
Siobhan rose slowly, planting her hands on her hips and cracking her back with a quick arch. “Same reason we didn’t see it until Dan pointed it out to us?”
“Dan?”
“I’m going to stay here in case Ben and Gwen need help.”
“You sure?”
“Sensible division of labor. Plus I can put this bulk to use if the door starts to give before you’re done.”
That settled, Patti, Kim, and Siobhan headed over to examine the clock.
The closer they got the bigger it loomed. It resolved into a shape approximately the width of a barn door and they had to crane their necks up to see the clock face. Yep, Magick in play to make this thing get missed. Which argued that Patti was right in pinpointing it as the spot they needed.
“Hidden door?” Kim directed to Siobhan.
“Hidden door,” Siobhan agreed.
“Here goes nothing.” Kim reached forward and grabbed the brass knob in the wood frame of the glass front door. A twist and a tug disengaged the lock, revealing a wide but shallow compartment with a large pendulum that was frozen mid-swing.
Kim tapped her fingers on the felted back behind the pendulum.
“Seems too shallow.”
Siobhan nodded. “Yep.”
Kim rose on her toes to run her fingers along the edges where the panel met the sides of the clock. “Would be good to have Ivan about now.”
“Too bad he had to seize the opportunity to seize Prairie.”
“I’m never letting him live this down.” Kim grinned as she stepped back and closed the glass door.
She moved to the side of the clock which protruded from the wall around two and half feet, the depth more closely resembling an old stone fireplace than a clock. Patti eyed it, doing some quick math in her head. That compartment had only been about three inches deep, leaving at least 2 feet of empty space behind it.
Kim tapped and poked at the side of the clock which was broken into several panels with wainscoting around them, looking similar to the paneling in the first room where Ivan had found the hidden catch. She ran her nails under the wainscoting as Ivan had. She followed the whirls of the wood grain. She punched it in key spots along the edge then leaned down and did the same to the base. Finally she stretched up on her toes and tapped along the top of the panel.
“Not this side.” Saying that she moved to the other side and did the same. It was when she tapped the top corner near the wall that a click sounded.
“Hey, Siobhan? Brace this for me? There’s probably another catch at the base.”
Siobhan stepped in and pressed her hand lightly to the center of the panel. “Got it.”
Making rhythmic blowing noises (It offended Patti’s sensibilities to call what Kim was doing a whistle since really she was just pursing her lips and blowing without making much sound), Kim stooped and tapped the panel in the spot in the base that corresponded with the one she’d found at the top. Another click. “Siobhan, loosen your hold. See if it pops out.”
Siobhan did so and it did so, gaping slightly away from the clock before stopping abruptly. Kim slid her finger into the gap, her fingers flat to the panel, and slid until she met some resistance. Eyes rolled back slightly in concentration she did something inside the gap and there was yet another click and then the panel swung open on invisible hinges hidden in the front wainscoting.
Impressive, Patti thought. I’m not sure I’m up to flying with these hawks when it comes to puzzles. But, damn, she considered, I’ll have fun trying.
A triumphant grin curving her mouth Kim stepped back. “I’ll go first since I have a ready light source and it looks pretty dark in there.”
“And you want to go first,” Siobhan added in a dry tone.
Unabashed, Kim grinned bright. “And I want to go first. Unless,” she paused and looked at Patti, “you want to?”
Skepticism filled the look Patti gave her. “Uhmmmm, no.”
“Heh, heh heh.” Flames flared to light on Kim’s fingers, dancing around the tips like foxfire, and she stepped into the dark maw revealed behind the panel.
“You go next,” Siobhan indicated. “I’ll bring up the rear.”
There was a small landing in the clock, then a long set of stairs dotted with unlit torches which Kim set to light with a touch. “Nice of them to leave us the lights.”
“Real nice.” Patti’s tone suggested she questioned how nice it was. Seemed kind of like living the basement door open a crack when a scantily clad teen was babysitting during a lightning storm. You knew nothing good was waiting for her down in that basement but did that stop her? Or make her grab a pair of sweats? Of course not.
They reached the bottom of the stairs fairly quickly, coming out in a crawl-space that required them to either drop to hands and knees or duck-walk to navigate through. Each of them wisely went the duck-walk route, waddling along the near wall in which more torches were evenly-spaced and waiting for a touch to go up.
The flickering light revealed a mechanism at the end of the ten or so foot long space. With the low ceiling and abbreviated length it felt a little bit too much like a burial chamber for Patti’s tastes. But she kept that to herself and focused on the gears, levers, arms, and springs that looked like a music box works if it was built into a wall rather than on a flat surface.
“Patti?” Kim waved her forward. “You know how these things work?”
“I have a basic grasp but only because my grandmother used to buy me one every year for my birthday and one of them was that type with the glass case so you could look at the mechanism. I admit I spent a good bit of time watching the gears and turned the key real slow to watch the way the comb played over the cylinder to make music. I think my Magick was awoken while watching it.”
“So what are we looking at here? Or looking for?”
“My gut is we’re looking for an altered speed governor. That’s the piece that controls the speed the spring unwinds and keeps the rhythm of the music.” Patti came crouched lower to peer into the gut of the mechanism. “It seems like there’s a lot more gears and springs than are actually needed. Like someone who knew how to describe a music box and how it works made it rather than someone who actually knew how to make one. The simplest music box is just a crank, a barrel, and a comb. It doesn’t make the prettiest sound but it makes one.”
“Okay,” Siobhan came over and peered into the mechanism with Patti. “See anything weird.”
“Besides that?” Patti pointed to the back where what looked like a large battery, if batteries glowed florescent green, squatted next to the speed governor.
“That’s not supposed to be there?”
“Not in any decent music box I’ve ever seen. The green glowing thing also screams “I’m Magic”.”
“Again, really wish Ivan had kept his hands to his self.”
“And yet he didn’t.” Kim sidled up and peered into the box. “Rochambeau?”
Siobhan nodded. “Rochambeau.”
They fell back and did a one-two-three-Rochambeau. Rock beat scissors and Siobhan smiled. “Guess I’ll be getting a top up.”
Patti narrowed her eyes, her mind making the connection almost as soon as Siobhan said it. “You guys always Rochambeau for the chance to potentially bite it?”
Kim and Siobhan nodded, like it was the most normal thing in the world.
She turned and spoke down to the mouse nestled in her cleavage. “They are nut jobs.”
The mouse squeaked and held up a little hand in a fist, like it wanted to Rochambeau and Patti chuckled.
In the time it took Patti to focus on the mouse and back Siobhan was bicep deep in the guts of the music box. While Patti couldn’t see the action she could tell when Siobhan grabbed the battery because green light traveled up her arm to her shoulder and then disappeared, making a straight shot for that place inside of her that devoured. Her hair rose in a soft nimbus, held down by the wreath of flowers she always wore, and then settled gently on her shoulders.
“Need a tums?” Kim asked as Siobhan settled back on her heels.
“Nah.” Siobhan grinned then motioned back to the stair well. “Shall we?”
“Why yes, thank you.” Patti replied and duck-walked back to the stairs. Kim took the rear, touching each torch as she passed it to draw the fire back into herself.
“What?” she asked at Patti’s stare. “Just because it’s a Mystery House that could be all Magick I still don’t want to burn it down.”
Couldn’t fault that. Patti climbed the stairs with Siobhan behind her and Kim in the back.
They stepped out of the clock and headed over to where Dan and Ben pressed their backs to the door, their thighs flexing. Gwen leaned between them, her arms braced on the surface. She tossed a glance back as Patti, Siobhan, and Kim approached.
“Well, thank fuck you’re back. This things been bucking like a rodeo bull for the last several minutes.”
“Let it go,” Siobhan ordered in a confident tone.
“You got it?” Dan asked, still pressing back on the door.
“We got it.”
“Well, okay then.” Dan looked at Ben who looked at Gwen. “On two?”
“Okay.” Gwen nodded.
“One,” Dan counted, “Two!”
On two they all parted from the door, giving it a wide berth.
Ben started running for cover but Kim grabbed his arm. “Either this works or this wall is as good as any to be thrown into.”
Ben narrowed his eyes. “You better be right or I’m landing on you.”
“Accepted.” Kim held her fist out for a bump as the door slammed open and Jake Rosenthal strode in looking concerned and harried.
“Where is my wife?!”
The words triggered the music. But this time instead of a discordant muddle a beautiful rendition of Norah Jones’ Come Away with Me flowed through the room, the music perfect for the swirling glory of the waltz that played out across the checkered floor. Couples spun, their movements measured grace. Women smiled up at their partners, secure in the hold of strong arms.
Patti’s glorious voice rose on the air, raising the hairs on Kim’s arm as she sang.
So fucking beautiful, Kim hesitated to join but there was something compelling her to do so. Siobhan and Gwen blended their voices on the next line.
The four women’s voices flowed together, through the room, winding around Ivan and Prairie who danced lyrically.
Ivan and Prairie spun and turned, gliding to the side of the room in pattern with the other dancers. Prairie raised her face to Ivan’s and her lips began to move, mouthing the lyrics.
She spun out on the end of Ivan’s arm and he let her hand go, able to now that the Magick wrapped them in it’s careful grasp.
Prairie pressed her hand to her face, feeling it to make sure it was mobile. And then she sang, tears pouring down her face, lending her voice to the Magick.
The women continued to sing, pure and clean and so beautiful that tears pricked Dan’s eyes. Ben rubbed his knuckled against his eye and glowered, “Dusty in here.”
Ivan swallowed, his gaze traveling over all the woman but lingering longest on Prarie. “Sure is. Damn dust.”
“Men cry,” Dan said through gritted teeth. “That is beautiful,” he indicated the women and the song that poured through the room, “and I’m not ashamed to appreciate it.”
As the song wound down, the last notes from the music box lingering in the corners of the room and then falling away to the sounds of the clock ticking over to twelve and tolling it’s bellows. Between the dongs came the sound of gasps and cries from the men and women who were free of the enchantment that had forced them to dance.
Ben punched Ivan in the shoulder. “Fuck you, man. Don’t scare me like that again.”
“Hey,” Ivan leaned over to grasp Dan’s forearm in an adjusted hand shake. “Sorry for whipping you into the chandelier. I was in there but couldn’t do a damned thing to stop it from happening.”
“Hey!” Siobhan came over. “Enough with the bro bonding. I just saw a woman run out of here and she dropped this.” She held up a fur slipper. “Want to bet that’s Diana?”
Dan focused on the slipper like a dog on a scent, nodding even as he checked his crossbows and started for the door which had appeared in the wall that they’d previously been pounded into. No way that had been there a minute ago, any more than the clock had been there when they first entered the space. This place was screwing with them. Or, he thought, trying to tell them something. Either way, time to rescue the lady.
Enter The Woods 